This health, safety and environment electronic update comes from Chip Dawson and the Rochester Business Alliance as a service to member organizations.

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An Important Reminder

You know this! But just in case the pressure of business clouds your mind, your OSHA 300A Summary report needs to be posted by Feb. 1 and be kept up until April 30. Perhaps more important-but not an OSHA requirement-is to talk with all your people about how you faired with safety in 2010 and how you're going to get better in 2011. This is an opportunity for the management team to invite input and show themselves open to ideas. If it comes from the trenches, it's much more likely to get wide-spread buy-in.

Hansen To Address WNY Safety Conference

Captain Sig Hansen of the U. S. fishing vessel Northwestern and a featured personality on the documentary television program Deadliest Catch will be the keynote speaker at the 75th Annual Western New York Safety Conference. Full disclosure: I keynoted the conference a few years ago, but never did get my own TV show. The two-day conference will run on March 16 and 17 at the Seneca Event Center in Niagara Falls. For details, and registration information, click here.

Canadian Document Identifies Neck Pain Issues and Solutions

The Institute for Work and Health (www.iwh.on.ca), a not-for-profit that addresses the health of working people in Canada, has published the Neck Pain Evidence Study that finds neck pain to be a widespread experience and a persistent or recurrent condition with no single cause. The study classifies neck pain into four grades, with the first two having little or limited interference with daily activities. Grade III is less common and involves symptoms in other parts of the body. Grade IV deals with serious pathology.

For grades I and II, effective treatments have been found to include manipulation, mobilization, supervised exercises, manual therapy, acupuncture, low-level laser therapy and analgesics. What is not effective is advice from health care providers without additional treatment, collars, passive modalities (heat therapy, ultrasound, nerve stimulation and muscle stimulation), methylprednisolone, Botox and corticosteroid injections.

Recent studies at nightclubs show that all employees (waiters, bartenders, DJs, etc,) were exposed to noise levels above internationally recommended limits and were at a higher risk of early hearing loss and tinnitus. A new term, music-induced hearing loss, has been coined to reflect this growing condition. To read about innovative prevention efforts designed specifically for musicians and others in the music industry on the NIOSH Science blog, click here.

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Online Resource Covers Green Job Safety and Health

Information on green job hazards is now available on the OSHA Web site. Green jobs are being defined broadly as jobs that help to improve the environment, such as in the wind and solar energy, recycling and biofuels industries. However, green jobs are not necessarily safe jobs. Workers in the green industries may face hazards that are commonly known in workplaces-such as falls, confined spaces, electrical, fire, and other similar hazards. Additionally, workers may be exposed to new hazards that may not have been previously identified. For example, workers in the solar energy industry may be exposed to Cadmium Telluride, a known carcinogen, if adequate controls are not implemented. To access the green jobs page, click here.

Coffee Brings Down Aircraft

As a 20-year Navy veteran, I learned early in my career that having coffee (or other drinks) around electronic equipment was a bad idea. That caution logically extends to any workplace where liquids can disrupt operations and damage equipment. However, there is a United pilot who perhaps wishes he had heeded such advice. Not long after takeoff from Chicago in a Boeing 777 bound for Europe, he dumped his cup of coffee on his radio equipment. The resulting short circuit sent a distress signal that the flight was being hijacked and also fouled up his navigation equipment, forcing an emergency landing in Canada. It's not likely he'll be bringing coffee into the cockpit anytime soon. Do you need to make similar rules in your workplace?

Steelcase Recalling Cachet Swivel Chairs

The CPSC and Steelcase have announced the recall of 165,000 Steelcase Cachet Model 487 chairs manufactured between May 2002 and Oct. 15, 2009. The front seat support can crack and fail and has resulted in at least one back injury. For details, click here.

Principles of Machine Safeguarding Outlined

Our friends at IRSST in Quebec have done it again. They've published an excellent booklet on the principles of machine safety that covers everything you need to know. Included are methods for hazard elimination, risk reduction, machine guarding, distance protection and lots of examples of protection against specific types of hazards. You'll find many figures, illustrations and charts spelling out distances in the 70-page document. The document is based on CSA Z432 and ISO 13857. To download a PDF copy of Machine Safety-Prevention of Mechanical Hazards (Guide RG-597), click here.

CPSC and Stihl Recall Chain Saw

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Sthil have announced a voluntary recall of STIHL MS 361C chain saws (C-Q version). About 5,000 have been sold between Feb. 2004 and Aug. 2009 for about $640. The throttle trigger may stick after it has been released by the operator, which could cause the engine to continue to run at a speed that drives the saw chain. This can pose a risk of a laceration injury to the user or a bystander. To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled product, click here.